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I was thinking about starting a necron army, and the combination of the monolith's deepstrike, imotekh the stormlord, flayed ones and deathmarks. but I'm not quite sure if this would be worth to make a army list around this concept, since the doomsday ark, doomscythes, wraith and lychguard look amazing aswell. any advice for a good necron army list/strategy?

Thanks in advance

If you're going to do a Deep Strike themed list then Zahndrekh is probably going to be your best choice, especially with the Flayed Ones.

Other than that, you'll probably want a unit in reserve for each Monolith you bring, and you'll need a unit on the board for each unit you put in reserve. I don't have my army book, but a general idea would be something like this:

Zahndrekh
D-Lord with Orb/MSS (if you bring the Flayed Ones)

2 units of Warriors or Immortals.
1-2 units of Deathmarks
1 unit of Flayed Ones.
2 Monoliths

Fill out the rest with whatever you want but you'll need 5 units starting on the board. So try to do that before looking into a Doomscythe. Lychguard are good, but most won't take them because for the same points we have better options. If your set on Imotekh, then I don't recommend the Doomsday Arks, he will grant a cover save to your opponent, and restrict the range on the Ark.

You'll have to work out the points, then post a list. Wraiths work well in the same place as the Flayed Ones, so don't be afraid to switch/try them out. Necrons are more of a shooting army so running Wraiths and Flayed Ones is a huge investment into Assault units, so don't run both.

Aha I see, I'll have a look at it , thanks for the advice

Got Bored...

I'm converting up a unit of Flayed Ones to use in games, and decided to alter the lists I have to maybe give you some inspiration. The 1500 point thing actually provided a bit of a challenge in what to take.

Here is the list I'd run:

Zahndrekh (With Warrior unit A)
Overlord Orb/Scythe/Weave (With Warriors unit B)
Despairtek (With Deathmarks)

15 Warriors
15 Warriors

15 Flayed Ones
10 Deathmarks

Doomscythe
Monolith

Your Warriors and Zahndrekh start on the board. Flayed Ones, Deathmarks, Monolith, and Doomscythe all go in Reserve. You'll want to go 2nd as often as you can so your opponent is rolling his Reserves first. This will allow you to bring both the Flayed Ones, and the Monolith in on your opponents turn. The Deathmarks won't be able to come in because you have the Despairtek in there and he doesn't have Deep Strike. Be AWARE that the Flayed ones will be VERY vulnerable because your opponent will get to shoot at them, and since you're bunched up, this is a VERY easy target. If they and/or the Monolith survive, then you're good to go. You bring in the unit of Deathmarks automatically from the Monolith with the Despairtek to kill stuff. The Flayed ones will be able to charge on your turn, and Zahndrekh will be able to give them Furious Charge.

If your opponent can deal with the Monolith or Flayed Ones you'll have a rough time. You'll also struggle if your opponent is crafty and forces you to go first. You'll have to make your Reserves rolls and if the Deathmarks show up when the Monolith doesn't, then they'll come in from the board edge, and more importantly, they'll have fewer targets to choose to Mark. You can still use the Monoliths Portal on following turns, and will still be able to bring it in when your opponent brings in Reserves. You'll be able to Deep Strike the Flayed Ones, and while they won't be able to Assault, they can still spread out by running.

The first and OBVIOUS change to this list would be the Doomscythe. I'd switch it out for a Nightscythe on the Deathmarks, then use the extra points to buff out the Warriors, or even take some Scarabs. It's up to you. You mentioned the Doomscythe, so I went that Direction. The Nightscythe will give you better positioning for the Despairtek, and will free up the Monolith to port one of the Warrior squads over for even more shooting. NOTE: Several people will suggest that you take a minimum 5 Deathmarks with the Despairtek and just rely on the Despairtek to do some damage. This is fine, but you'll find yourself usually just trading as this unit will most likely die. I've not seen them earn their points back, and I like the 10 Deathmarks because that will often be 20 shots, with the chance for Precision to maximize specifically the models that you will kill.

For a list more like what you were asking about, this would also be workable:

Zahndrekh (With Warriors)

15 Warriors
10 Immortals (Gauss)
Monolith
Monolith
Deathmarks
Doomscythe
5 Wraiths

Same thing. Warriors/Zahndrekh/Immortals/Wraiths on board. Deathmarks/Monoliths in Reserve. The Wraiths just run flat out at your opponent as they're the slowest thing in this army. Your opponent brings in Reserves, you get to bring the Deathmarks and both Monoliths on the board if you went 2nd. Deathmarks are threatened at this point, and you can choose to keep them in Reserve. If you don't, then on your turn, both the Warriors and the Immortals are free to use each Monolith to get right into the face of your opponent (leaving the Wraiths to catch up!) I feel as if this is more of what you had in mind. Going first on this list is less of a detriment since the Monoliths can still port models through on the turn they come in, so even if one of them makes it, they can bring in the Deathmarks. Like the first list, the Doomscythe for a Nightscythe for the Deathmarks would free up points for a Despairtek, and a few more Warriors or even another Wraith.

Hope that helps.

HAha thanks it certainly did, I like the second one better indeed xD. I only had one question since I haven't read through the codex that well, how are you so sure that you'll get both monoliths and the deathmarks on the table? Also, what is the purpose for the second monolith, and how big is the difference (damagewise and hull points wise) between the nightscythe and doomscythe, I know the doomscythe has a S10 AP 1 beam which is really strong but does the nightscythe have any good weapons?

Thanks in advance for the list it really gave me some awesome ideas

Flayed ones are probably one of the worst units in the whole game as an fyi. And they aren't cheap models. I don't want you wasting your money

Deathmarks can Deep Strike in response to enemy Reserves. You don't often hear about it since any attached characters will usually prevent them from being able to do. Despairteks are the ones that benefit the most from being in a Deathmark squad. Since it's a template attack, Nightscythes are the most reliable way to get them in the best position without paying for a veil and hoping your Deep Strike scatter is good.

When you take Zahndrekh, any unit in Deep Strike reserve can also respond like the Deathmarks can. This is what makes him the best choice for this tactic. So try to go 2nd, to give your opponent the opportunity to get reserves on before yours do. Even if you end up going first, if either of the Monoliths arrive, then you can use the Portal to bring in the Deathmarks for no scatter (and hopefully a good position if you bring Despairtek). If one of the Monoliths doesn't arrive, you can still use Zahndrekh to bring on the other one in your opponents turn.

Doomscythes do have the 'Death Ray'. Both flyers still have a Twinlinked Tesla Destructor. They FAQd out being able to use the 'Death Ray' on Flyers. Since that will be your only Flyer, if you choose to shoot at your opponents flyer, then your not using the 'Death Ray'. They both have the same Armor/Hull points. I'm not against Doomscythes, but recommend finding the 25 pts and getting 2, then if you still want one, they're great.

On the 2nd list, you have to take the Wraiths because you won't have enough units on the board to put the rest in Reserve. You could start with a Monolith on the table and put the Wraiths in Reserve. They too can Deep Strike, so can use Zahndrekhs rule. Keep that in mind, but until you have a good idea, just learn to put both Liths and the Deathmarks in Reserve.

As for the Flayed Ones, they aren't the worst unit in the game. They are the 3rd best choice for an assault unit in the Necron Army. They are expensive $$ wise and you really have to commit to using them. For the cost, and avoiding 'Failcast', you'll be less frustrated as you learn, with either the Wraiths, or Scarabs. I think the Wraiths are better for your theme for the reasons listed above.

So do I , I'll have a good look at what units can deepstrike and that would actually be usefull when deepstriked, thanks ALOT for the advice it really helped me out !

 Akar wrote:

As for the Flayed Ones, they aren't the worst unit in the game. They are the 3rd best choice for an assault unit in the Necron Army. They are expensive $$ wise and you really have to commit to using them. For the cost, and avoiding 'Failcast', you'll be less frustrated as you learn, with either the Wraiths, or Scarabs. I think the Wraiths are better for your theme for the reasons listed above.

Why would anyone choose the "third best of something"?

Dalymiddleboro wrote:
Why would anyone choose the "third best of something"?

I keep asking myself that every time I see a D-Lord...

I'm not putting the 3 units into a ranking system. Wraiths and Scarabs frequently switch places for which unit is best depending on player, list, and Meta. Flayed Ones are an equally viable 3rd choice. The drawback to Wraiths are their wounds. A full unit is only 12 wounds and they don't have RP. Any army that runs heavy on Small Arms fire isn't affected by Wraiths. They really are pretty fragile. Scarabs drawbacks are blast, and the fact they aren't jump infantry. Pretty much every Tactica out there mentions that these are a prime unit to give up First Blood.

Flayed Ones fill that middle ground. They are the cheapest assault model, they have RP, they still have the chance to get in your opponents face and force him to deal with them take the hit. IMO, they're the only reason to bring a D-Lord at all, since it's one of 2 ways to get a Res Orb in the unit w/o removing their ability to Deep Strike.

The OP asked about them, so I included them and have ZERO issues running them. Only reason I haven't run them yet is because I already own 12 Wraiths and 30 Scarab bases. I am converting a unit of Flayed ones up, and only have a few more to assemble before paint. After that, they're going to start hitting the table whenever I run Zahndrekh or when I re-purchase some Monoliths.